UNDERSTANDING THE GAP IN KNOWLEDGE FOR PROJECT/ RESEARCH WORK

November 26, 2016. IMPERIAL WRITERS

In most of the academic environment today, most undergraduate project students, usually get confused whenever the gap analysis is required in their research work. There was a time most of research students call me for advise on gap analysis; sometime they call to understand what their lecture mean whenever he or she ask them identify and discuss the gap in their literature.

Gap for a lay man can mean space or distance between two or more objects; it can also be the distance between people; but in the research environment, gap could mean limitation as a result of failed explanation or findings.

Gap could also mean that which is supposed to be in a particular research work but was not found at the end of the research work. Now take for instance the project topic on the effect of treasury single account on the economy of Nigeria, we all know why TSA was implemented, TSA was implemented to block financial leakages, and to minimize the rate of borrowing by the federal government of Nigeria and to avoid idle money in most of the commercial banks in Nigeria; when a research student, after his or her research highlighted only these three points in his or her aim and objectives of the student but failed to show the relationship or the effect of treasury single account on financial leakages, then it becomes a gap as regards the objective of the study.

Secondly in the review of the related literature, a project/ research student found out that most of the past research done on the effect of treasury single account on the economy of Nigeria did not cover the areas of financial leakages, borrowing and idle, and then it becomes a gap in knowledge in the literature review; gap never end as long as there exist research.

It is because of the incomplete nature of any research work that led to the introduction of gap in research; most institution require their project student be it undergraduate, post graduate students to always identify the gap in their research work.